POLITICAL stakeholders and social commentators in Osogbo, Oyo State, have called on contestants to display spirit of sportsmanship in the 2015 general elections, to ensure peaceful polls.
Mr Olusola Obafunwa, a social critic, told newsmen in Osogbo that the country was at the crossroads and needed peaceful election to enhance its democratic dispensation.
Obafunwa, however, called on politicians to be patriotic and see contests as mere sports where people would always win and lose for the fun of it, not to heat up the polity.
He said that the success or otherwise of the forthcoming general elections would depend on the level of maturity exhibited by politicians vying for various elective offices.
According to him, the post-centenary political era in Nigeria poses array of challenges that demand concerted efforts of every Nigerian for the country to survive and still remain as one entity.
A don, Dr Akinola Sadiq, also called on politicians to play according to the rule of the game, saying that “nobody is above the law of the land”.
Sadiq, who teaches Political History, Osun State University, Osogbo, said the 2015 general elections would the most peaceful in the history of election in the country.
He, however, stressed that the success of the election would depend on the level of political maturity displayed by the contestants, politicians and their followers.
According to him, political gladiators must also respect extant laws that guide electoral process, for the realisation of a credible, fair and transparent poll.
‘’Our politicians should be responsible enough as leaders, to obey every law that regulates electoral process; they should not be tempted to maneuver the process for selfish intent.
“I am optimistic that the forthcoming elections will be peaceful if the political players play according to the rule of the game,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, a member of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Osun, Mr Oladipupo Ishola, has blamed some politicians for the political challenges facing the country.
He said this class of politicians usually displayed excesses in their actions and described them as “jobbers and business men and women who are out to fish from the trouble water for selfish interest”.
He, therefore, advised law enforcement agencies to live up to their statutory obligation by discharging their duties without fear or favour.